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second-guessing

verb

present participle of second-guess
1
as in outguessing

Related Words

Relevance
2
as in reasoning

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-guessing
  1. balking
  2. reasoning
  3. overreaching
  4. analyzing
  5. outmaneuvering
  6. reviewing
  7. outsmarting
  8. exploring
Verb
  • Several budget hawks and conservative economists are already balking at the idea – a bad sign when just a few Republicans in either chamber can, until the voting margins change, tank pretty much any measure.
    — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Many residents are balking at that timing and at Ryan’s lawsuit against Killingly’s wetlands board for rejecting the first version of the plan on July 6.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of balking
Verb
  • Organizations have compared benchmark scores, reasoning capabilities and response quality to determine which AI model is smartest.
    — Samir Dutta, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Backwards reasoning like this reminds me of Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaign 70 years ago.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of reasoning
Verb
  • While most judges have categorized such requests as overreaching or for an improper purpose, two out of three judges on the panel ruled that there was nothing out of line about the QueerDoc request.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Republican lawmakers disagree, saying that the approval is just another example of an overreaching government.
    — Tom Wait, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of overreaching
Verb
  • Because the data center boom is so new, there has not yet been a comprehensive study analyzing how much more electricity and hence pollution is being generated to power them.
    — Anna Zarra Aldrich, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • It's generated by analyzing size, industry and payment history of your business.
    — Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of analyzing
Verb
  • The characters' abilities are built around outmaneuvering, not outgunning.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • May built one of the most dominant teams in Big Ten history by outmaneuvering his peers in the transfer portal.
    — Austin Meek, New York Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of outmaneuvering
Verb
  • Some simple ways to do this include improving your credit utilization ratio, either by paying down existing debt or increasing available credit, and reviewing your credit report for any mistakes.
    — Becca Stanek, TheWeek, 23 Sep. 2026
  • After reviewing the work, Feng Zhang, a CRISPR genome-editing pioneer and professor at MIT and the Broad Institute, said the finding warrants further investigation.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of reviewing
Verb
  • The problem, according to Hinton, is that humans will no longer be able to rely on outsmarting super-intelligent AI models.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The Fan, the season-long unsub obsessed with one-upping and outsmarting his idol.
    — Joyce Eng, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026
Definition of outsmarting
Verb
  • Last year, a National School Choice Awareness Foundation survey found that 60 percent of parents have considered switching schools for their children, with many exploring models beyond traditional brick-and-mortar schools.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Could this explain why so many of our most reputable creatives are exploring what was once peripheral, spoken of with disbelief, and envisioning it as another possible dimension of existence?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of exploring
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

second-guesses
second-guessing
secondhand
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Cite this Entry

“Second-guessing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-guessing. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

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